


Perchance to Dream (2011)

by JennyB



Series: Lent 2011 [17]
Category: Yami No Matsuei
Genre: Friendship/Love, Lent Challenge 2011, M/M, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-25
Updated: 2011-03-25
Packaged: 2018-01-06 16:57:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1109286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JennyB/pseuds/JennyB
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tatsumi's idyllic afternoon tea turns out to be not quite as perfect as he'd first thought.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Perchance to Dream (2011)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [7veilsphaedra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/7veilsphaedra/gifts).



> Written for Lent Challenge 2011. Prompt: Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?

“There you are!” Watari beamed. “We’ve been looking for you for a while now. I’m glad I found you; some of us were starting to get a little bit worried.” He headed towards the figure seated on the wrought iron bench.

Tatsumi turned slightly in his chair, and he chuckled softly. “Really, Watari, I’m sure the department can get along fine without me for a few hours. I just needed to clear my head a little so I came to Chijou to have my afternoon tea. Somehow, the gardens in Meifu, while eternally perfect, just didn’t hold the appeal for me today. This place – it’s very beautiful, don’t you think?”

Watari glanced around, and nodded. “It’s very picturesque what with the glacial lake and the mountains. Almost Utopian, wouldn’t you say?”

Tatsumi nodded. “I thought that, too.” He took a sip from the delicate china cup, and then set it back on its saucer. “Imagine my surprise to find a café out here. I’d suspect they don’t get a lot of tourists out this way, which would explain the price of the tea, but well worth it.” He chuckled softly at his joke, and then gestured to the place next to him with a slight tip of his head. “Join me if you’d like. Someone should be along soon to see if you want anything. I’d recommend the strawberry cream tea. It’s just delicious. And the tea biscuits are wonderful, too.”

Watari sat down next to the other, his hands folded in his lap while he stared contemplatively out at the water. Finally, he sighed heavily, and letting a gentle smile fall into place, he said, “Tatsumi, this place – it's lovely, but it…isn’t what you think it is. You tell me you’ve been here for just a few hours, but you’ve been here for _two weeks_. You got caught in one of Muraki’s spells and have been trapped in your own mind.” He gestured around him. “This isn’t real.”

Tatsumi frowned as he glanced sidelong at the other. “It has to be real. I can smell the water from the lake. I feel the coolness of this bench I’m sitting on. I can taste this tea. Those things don’t exist in dreams.”

“This isn’t a dream, Tatsumi. It’s a powerful spell meant to keep you inside your mind so that you can’t wake up. That’s why this world is so perfect. Why it’s everything you’ve ever wanted. Yet I bet you have no recollection of how you even came to be here. Tatsumi, just think about it. You’ve been a shinigami long enough to know that not everything is always as it seems. So I’ll ask you, what are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?” Watari’s expression softened further. “Ask yourself what I would have to gain by lying to you and trying to get you to come home.” Watari turned back to the horizon, watching as dark, violent storm clouds began to roll in and he smiled when he heard a ferocious clap of thunder and saw an angry lightning bolt split the sky.

Tatsumi frowned, turning his own attention to rapidly darkening skies. "A storm," Tatsumi remarked quietly as the wind ruffled through his hair. "That came on rather suddenly, didn't it?"

"Yes, it did." Quite pleased with what he was seeing, Watari's sharp eyes continued to scan the horizon. “Look at what’s happening. You’ve started to question, and even now with your first shades of doubt, cracks are starting to appear in the illusion. It’s only a matter of time before everything here collapses and you come back.”

“But I don’t want to lose this place,” Tatsumi murmured softly, more to himself than anything as the tempest gained in intensity. He watched a part of the mountain crumble away and a few of the trees topple and wither around him.

“You won’t,” Watari said, and with a smile, he leaned over and tapped Tatsumi’s forehead. “It will always be in here. The only difference is that now you know you created it. I’m afraid that once you know the secret behind the magic, it doesn’t work quite the same way anymore.” His smile turned sympathetic when he heard the heavy sigh and saw Tatsumi’s head bow forward slightly.

“I know.” He glanced sidelong at Watari and gave him a small, bitter smile in return. “It’s probably for the best anyway.” Tatsumi felt the deafening clap of thunder deep in his chest, and the next thing he knew, he was lying in a hospital bed in the infirmary, and Watari was standing by. He glanced up at his long-time friend, and then toward the window. A few wayward cherry blossom petals drifted by the glass. He was home.

“Welcome back,” Watari greeted. “It’s good to see you; frankly, I wasn’t sure if this would work, but I had to try. All this thumb-twiddling was driving me insane.” He smiled warmly and sat beside Tatsumi on the edge of the bed. “Figuring out how to make contact with you was the hardest part, but even doing so wasn’t a guarantee you'd wake up. The decision to leave was ultimately up to you. I’m glad that you did.”

“It was so beautiful. But was I genuinely happy, or was even that an artificial construct designed to keep me there? I think I was happy, but I’m not sure. Not that it matters; it wasn’t real and now it’s all gone.”

“You’re wrong about one thing. Not _everything_ you saw was an illusion. One thing was definitely real.” Watari shifted a hand to cover one of Tatsumi’s and he gave it a gentle squeeze. “Knowing that, I hope it might be enough to make you happy. You'll have to let me know sometime. I've got eternity."


End file.
